THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS; Unorthodox Wilson Gets Results

When he is in a chipper mood and not carrying a chip on his shoulder, Coach Ron Wilson of the Washington Capitals is philosophical about his final resting place. Having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup would be better than anything chiseled on his tombstone.

''Maybe you just put on 'Check the Stanley Cup, his name is there,' '' Wilson said today. ''That's what I'd want. It's eternity, is what it is. It's a boy's dream and a man's goal. Hopefully, the Stanley Cup will be around longer than you.''

And if the Capitals won the cup?

''I'd be jumping up and down, and I wouldn't be embarrassed to do it,'' Wilson said. ''I wouldn't be embarrassed to cry, either.''

Wilson inherited a Washington team with a recent history of losing playoff rounds after going up by 3 games to 1. When the Capitals took the same lead over the Boston Bruins in the first round this spring, Wilson forced his players to confront their history after the lead shrank to 3-2.

Referring today to that pivotal moment in the first round, Wilson said: ''We lost Game 5 and all of Washington was beating that choker drum again. Maybe the players were expecting me to come in and slam my fist on the wall or kick a garbage can. We turned it into a lighter moment. Our team plays a lot better when they go on the ice with a smile on their face.''

Wilson would not reveal how he turned it into a lighter moment, speaking in generalities about ''bizarre motivation.'' The Capitals lead the Ottawa Senators by 2 games to 1 in the four-of-seven series that resumes here Wednesday night in the Corel Center. If they survive this round, they would play either Buffalo or Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals.

Today, after practice, Wilson frolicked with his players, exchanging long flying saucer passes with one player, scuffling playfully with another and squirting water at a local equipment man who wore a Senators jacket behind the Capitals' bench. ''You get to act like a little kid,'' he said later. ''Be stupid.''

Before a recent game, to illustrate a technical point in a team meeting, Wilson decorated Popsicle sticks with facial photographs of two of his players. Earlier this season, one of his players missed a shot at an open net after the opposing team pulled its goalie for an extra attacker. George McPhee, the general manager, recalled that the other players teased their teammate and how Wilson reacted the next day.

''Ron had all the guys shoot at an open net and see how it was for them,'' McPhee said. ''So few of them put it in that it took the heat off the player who missed the night before. And, we also had some fun with it.''

Wilson was hired by McPhee after coaching the Mighty Ducks for four years. He left after a dispute with the front office. McPhee said Wilson ''is as bright as they come'' and ''he constantly has new ideas and new approaches.''

Wilson's sense of humor has been described as sarcastic, even by his friends. Brian Burke, a senior vice president of the National Hockey League, was co-captain of the Providence College team, along with Wilson, when they played for Lou Lamoriello.

''He's good at keeping a team loose with snide remarks,'' Burke said. ''He's very sarcastic.''

Not all of his sarcasm is well received. When Wilson coached the Mighty Ducks, many of the reporters covering the team were female. Wilson referred to them as ''the sewing club.'' Some thought this characterization to be sexist but others thought it was merely condescending.

Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello spoke in general about Wilson's sense of humor and sharp tongue.

''Sometimes, he says things that ruffle people's feathers,'' Lamoriello said. ''People who don't know him might have a difficult time accepting it. Sometimes, saying more is too much.''

Canadian-born and American by choice, Wilson has ruffled feathers north of the border. After he coached the United States to the championship of the World Cup of 1996, the Canadian television commentator Don Cherry objected to what he felt was Wilson's bragging.

''I was disappointed in him after that for going around saying 'It's not Canada's game anymore,' '' Cherry said today. ''That bothered me.''

But Cherry also called Wilson ''good for the league'' because he is ''always good for a quote'' and ''he's colorful'' and ''he does cause trouble, wherever he goes, he stirs it up.''

''You go in, be genuine, relax and have fun,'' Wilson said. ''That's the best. I'll be 43 in a couple weeks. I'm still involved in hockey. It doesn't get any better than this.''

Burke said Wilson's coaching perspective was expanded by the years he played in Switzerland, in between stints as an N.H.L. defenseman.

''His experience playing in Europe led him to take a hybrid approach to the game,'' Burke said. ''Take the best characteristics of the North American game and bring in the European influence. He's got a team that he inherited that plays well to that style. Good skill guys up top but plenty of iron in the lineup, too.''

Of the 20 players who dressed for Monday's game, 8 were from outside North America. One of them, recently acquired by McPhee, is Esa Tikkanen, who moves from team to team over the decades, usually appearing in the playoffs as a defensive shadow against an opposing superstar. This time, Tikkanen is checking Aleksei Yashin, one of Ottawa's sharpshooters who scored once on Monday, on the power play.

''He lets us play how we want it,'' Tikkanen said. ''It's like Mike Keenan and Glen Sather. Let the players play. He's fair to everybody. If you play well, he lets you play. He said to me 'Show up and play like you used to play.' ''

Joe Juneau, a Capitals star who has not always had the best of relations with all coaches, praised Wilson.

''Obviously, he brought a new attitude into our locker room,'' Juneau said. ''Good practices. Even when we went through a couple bad stretches, it was never bad to go to the rink every day. He wants to have fun. He is just making sure everyone has fun as well. He says 'Come to the rink and play hockey. You've worked all your life to get to this level, you should not look at it as a job. You should come and play and have fun the same way as you did when you grow up.'''

If Wilson's dream comes true and the Capitals finally win the Stanley Cup, a reception at the White House is likely. A visit by the Capitals would be a strange twist for Wilson.

Earlier this year, he coached the United States Olympic team, which was excluded from a Presidential reception for most American Olympians. It wasn't because the team did not qualify for the medal round but because the players became notorious for late-night carousing and causing $3,000 worth of damage in their village apartments.

Ask Wilson about his Olympic experience, and his responses are curt and narrow. He spoke only of on-ice activity.

''Ron learned a lot about coaching in the Olympics,'' McPhee said. ''He said he never felt he had control in the locker room. And that's got to be a coach's domain.''

But that was the quest for a gold medal, this is the pursuit of the Stanley Cup.